25

40

28.5

25.1

24.3

.396

.377

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.4%

Todd Helton's batting line would look pretty good if he were a second baseman in a pitcher's park making pre-arbitration money.

2

24

44

25.5

26.1

26.6

.376

.357

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Jason Marquis started his third game for the Padres and is now batting 1-for-2. This is your Daily Hit List Riddle.

3

28

39

28.3

26.7

27.4

.412

.393

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Why did Brett Myers give up five runs when his team had a seven-run lead? Because he's a good teammate, that's why. Fellow bullpenner Xavier Cedeno had no career saves before last night. Thanks to Myers, he now has one.

4

26

39

25.2

26.8

26.7

.403

.422

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Lester Oliveros has thrown 1 2/3 innings this year and racked up enough value to be seventh on the Twins pitching staff in WARP. Remember, there are typically 12 pitchers on a team.

5

34

31

29.8

27.0

27.3

.454

.435

2.4%

3.5%

5.9%

-0.8%

-2.8%

It might be time for Andrew McCutchen to start his solo career. This band is dragging him down.

28.0

27.3

27.6

.395

.376

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

29

36

29.3

29.3

29.8

.451

.471

0.8%

0.0%

0.8%

0.0%

0.8%

Maybe it's just the name "Louis," but shouldn't Louis Coleman have pitched in the 1930s? (After five runs in two innings yesterday, Royals fans are probably ready for him to time travel, too.)

8

31

36

32.7

29.8

29.9

.460

.480

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

0.0%

0.4%

Brandon Moss, Brandon Inge, and "Honorary Brandon" Cespedes each have six homers for the A's.

9

29

40

32.1

30.0

30.6

.441

.461

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

Oliver Perez is back! Did you know the Mariners are the team against which he made his debut? The very first thing Perez did in the major leagues was strike out Ichiro Suzuki swinging. He coulda been a contendah.

10

33

33

27.7

30.4

30.2

.460

.440

6.7%

5.5%

12.2%

-3.5%

-8.3%

Baseball should do a cross-over with "Dexter." Michael C. Hall cuts Marlins player [redacted by legal counsel] into pieces while Ozzie Guillen tries to solve the case.

11

34

32

29.1

31.4

31.7

.478

.498

24.4%

4.7%

29.1%

7.5%

-11.4%

Chris Perez has 22 saves in 66 team games. He's going to get paid, isn't he?

12

31

36

31.7

32.3

31.0

.470

.450

9.8%

10.6%

20.5%

0.8%

-11.8%

Ryan Braun's next stolen base will tie him for eighth on the Brewers' all-time list. Robin Yount quietly chuckles.

13

32

34

31.9

32.3

32.2

.486

.506

34.3%

4.7%

39.0%

5.5%

8.3%

The most valuable reliever in baseball by VORP? Aroldis Chapman, of course. Second? Joaquin Benoit. And no, I'm not putting "of course" after that one.

14

36

32

33.7

33.3

34.0

.503

.483

8.7%

11.0%

19.7%

3.5%

9.4%

R.A. Dickey what are you even I don't know what's why is this.

15

39

28

34.6

33.6

34.8

.530

.550

5.9%

18.9%

24.8%

-5.1%

5.5%

Wilson Betemit, come on down! You're the next contestant on Everybody Hates You Because You Kept R.A. Dickey From Throwing a No-Hitter.

16

37

29

35.2

33.8

34.9

.534

.553

7.1%

52.0%

59.1%

0.4%

-15.4%

I have a cat named Joey who is confident that he could outhit Sean Rodriguez. He's a little cocky, this cat, but I'm not sure he's wrong.

17

34

33

36.7

33.8

34.8

.520

.540

0.8%

7.9%

8.7%

1.6%

2.8%

Brett Lawrie had a homer, a double, a steal, and an error against the team that traded him for Shaun Marcum. He also cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders, and hopped in place thirteen thousand times.

18

35

32

35.2

34.5

34.7

.520

.500

34.6%

20.9%

55.5%

-3.5%

-12.6%

Andrelton Simmons had a .356 slugging percentage in Rookie ball two years ago. He's at .529 in the bigs right now. I believe in a thing called regression.

19

31

37

33.2

34.8

34.3

.490

.470

4.7%

10.2%

15.0%

3.1%

1.6%

The Phillies are just a percentage point behind Detroit for the best stolen-base percentage in the game despite 24 more attempts. Davey Lopes has been in Los Angeles for two years, but the lessons stuck, apparently.

20

38

28

37.3

35.4

34.8

.551

.531

57.9%

18.9%

76.8%

-1.2%

24.4%

Zack Cozart and Chris Heisey, batting first and second, reached base once between them yesterday. The Reds scored nine runs but lost by one. I have a point here. Are you seeing it?

21

33

34

34.5

35.7

35.9

.519

.499

11.8%

22.4%

34.3%

5.1%

1.2%

Wade Miley has a 2.30 ERA and a .385 batting average. Leave some talent for the rest of us, huh?

22

36

32

36.0

36.8

36.8

.535

.555

9.1%

57.9%

66.9%

-1.2%

0.0%

If Mike Trout doesn't take it easy, his batting line will soon resemble Melky Cabrera's.

23

35

32

36.3

36.9

37.1

.542

.562

40.6%

5.1%

45.7%

-10.6%

-8.7%

Does anyone ever buy Tyler (.174/.255/.348) flowers?

24

33

33

35.7

37.1

37.1

.541

.561

5.1%

26.4%

31.5%

3.5%

7.5%

Remember Ryan Sweeney hitting .353/.385/.500 on May 11? Well, his TAv (.255) is now below the level he set in his four years in Oakland. Isn't this a "Fiddler on the Roof" song? "Regressionnnnnnnnnnn. Regression! Regression!"

25

38

30

35.7

37.6

37.0

.545

.525

34.6%

29.1%

63.8%

1.6%

3.9%

Every time I see "M. Cabrera" in the box score, I wonder why the Tigers would trade Miguel to the Giants. There's no other M. Cabrera in baseball who has any business posting a .400 OBP.

26

38

26

35.9

38.5

37.8

.587

.567

45.3%

15.4%

60.6%

-3.1%

-2.4%

Stephen Strasburg (.360 TAv) needs to be more patient at the plate (zero walks in 21 PAs) if he wants to make a leap forward.

27

41

25

39.4

38.6

38.7

.598

.617

81.1%

14.2%

95.3%

-1.2%

9.1%

CC Sabathia could nudge past Tommy John into the top 50 of all time in strikeouts early next year. This would be more impressive were he not 322 whiffs behind Jamie Moyer.

28

42

25

39.6

39.7

39.0

.598

.578

53.5%

28.3%

81.9%

-2.8%

1.6%

I started to write a comment about Jerry Hairston and his .312 TAv. Then I read Sam Miller's article from yesterday. Screw this. I quit.